THE DOMESTIC CALENDAR: AN ARRANGEMENT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR FAMILY WORSHIP. TO WHICH ARE ADDED TABLES AND AN INDEX TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS, BY A LAYMAN. "The ancient Fathers of the Christian Church so ordered the matter, Things of importance are not to be done by the effort of the THIRD EDITION. (ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.) London: GEORGE HOBY, 123, MOUNT STREET, BERKELEY SQUARE; 1848. EI PROOFS AT IT IS THE DUTY OF EVERY MAN TO READ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES DILIGENTLY. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.-Deuteronomy vi. 6 & 7. For I know him [Abraham], that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.-Genesis xviii. 19. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.-Psalm xix. 7. The entrance of thy Word giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.-Psalm cxix. 130. Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. -Matthew xxii. 29. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.-Luke xvi. 29. Then he [Jesus] opened their understandings, that they might understand the Scriptures.-Luke xxiv. 45. These [the Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so: therefore, many of them believed.-Acts xvii. 11. From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.-2 Timothy iii. 15—17. This I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.-Acts xxiv. 14. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. THIS little book is a reprint of the Domestic Calendar for Family Worship, published for the same Author, in London, in 1834. Two large editions have long since been sold; and the Author has been frequently pressed to reprint it. In doing so, he has made a few alterations, which he believes will be acceptable: first, he has taken the Book of Psalms out of the Daily Lesson Calendar, which has enabled him to equalize the length of the New Testament Lessons, some of which before were too long; secondly, he has added Tables for reading the Book of Psalms, by which portions may be found suitable for private devotion, as well as for family worship; and, thirdly, he has also added heads of prayer, &c. The Author thinks it better to retain the order in which the books of Scripture stand in the authorized version of the Bible, than to attempt to place them chronologically, as has been suggested. The present arrangement is simple and natural,-viz., 1, The Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; 2, The historical books; 3, The devotional and ethical books; and 4, The books of prophecy. He has carefully reviewed the lessons taken from the books of Exodus and Leviticus, and those only are retained which seem indispensable for rightly understanding the allusions made to them by our Lord and his apostles, especially by St. Paul. He earnestly prays that the Divine blessing may continue to attend all endeavours to promote the systematic reading of God's Holy Word. The signs of the times indicate that every believer should be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh him a reason of the hope that is in him with meekness and fear. (1 Peter iii. 15.) J. H. London, A 2 INTRODUCTION. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate there in day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." (Joshua i. 8.) So many Calendars for reading the Holy Scriptures have already appeared, that an apology seems necessary for adding to the number. The Author believes that the best he can offer, will be to state what were the circumstances which led him to prepare, for the use of his own family, that now presented to the public; he did not intend to print it until he was induced to do so by the entreaties of several friends who had been present when he and his family were engaged in the worship of God. In the year 1825, a sermon preached by a venerable servant of Christ, who has since entered into his rest, led the Author to resolve, whilst in the house of God, that he would not sleep again, until he should have called his family together, and read to them a portion of the word of God, and united with them in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to the God of all the families of the earth. On that evening, he read the first chapter of Genesis; he intended to read each chapter in succession to the end of the New Testament.-His parents had been accustomed to worship God daily; but many years had passed since they had been removed, and he had forgotten, or perhaps never known, their method of reading the word of God. He soon found that it would not be profitable to read every chapter, as it occurred, in a family including children and servants; and finding that many excellent persons were accustomed to look out a chapter at the time of prayer, without previous arrangement, he attempted to follow their example, but this occasioned much loss of time, and he was not sufficiently acquainted with the Scriptures, to be able to rely on his own judgment in making a selection. He found in this way that the historical portions of the Scripture would be unconnected, and that very important parts of the Bible might still be left unread. He tried to use the calendar of the Church of England, but this required the use of four chapters daily: it included portions of the apocryphal Scriptures, and omitted many of the most important parts of both Testaments, and the entire book of Revelation. He purchased all the calendars he could meet with, but not one of them was constructed on the principles which he felt to be necessary for his family, namely, that all the New Testament and all the most important chapters of the Old Testament, should be read every year. Of the calendars which he procured, one directed that the family should meet thrice in the day, in order that no chapter should be omitted, thus including chapters containing only genealogical and statistical details, and others which it would not be prudent to read to young persons. Some calendars were obviously constructed to favour or uphold peculiar doctrinal opinions; but he was desirous to learn the whole counsel of God,-which he knew must remain the same, whether he should read or whether he should forbear. From one however he received the suggestion, that the lessons should be taken alternately from the Old and New Testaments, from another that the morning lesson should be taken from the New Testament in as much as its precepts were to be the rules of our conduct during the day, and also because it would be better understood by the younger members of the family, who would then be present. The Old Testament lessons are |